Linda Lapointe says the committee just finished a report on the topic in June.

Liberal MPs on the House Trade Committee, including, from right, Linda Lapointe, Steven McKinnon, and Peter Fonseca, voted down a Conservative motion to call on the government to establish a national roundtable to discuss Canada's softwood lumber negotiations with the U.S. Mr. Fonseca said it would only duplicate the efforts of the public servants negotiating the deal. The Hill Times photograph by Peter Mazereeuw

Liberal and Conservative MPs jousted Thursday over the need for another irregular mid-summer meeting of the House Trade Committee, this time on softwood lumber negotiations.

Gerald Butts has removed himself from the daily political grind of strategizing how to keep the Liberals in power. But observers say it's unlikely he will be consigned to watch the campaign unfold from the sidelines.

SNC-Lavalin risks a takeover if it's convicted. But aside from likely outrage in Quebec, Ottawa can find other builders for its infrastructure plans if the company is banned from bidding on federal contracts, experts say

The Quebec company had extensive access to government ministers and top staffers, and was the only organization registered to lobby for allowing deferred prosecution agreements for white collar crimes.